I don't own Basara.


Chapter 17: A Chance Meeting


Amazingly enough, as dawn broke over the horizon, and the explosions from Azuchi heralded Oda's death, Ranmaru remained asleep, right up until I pulled Dango's reins to a halt.

No servants came out to greet us, most likely in Azuchi, or running back to their families so they could be clear away before raiding parties came to sack the castle. Well, the first one had arrived, and it hadn't eaten for a while, barring a few quick bites in between Gracia's attack and well, everything else.

Slipping off the saddle after me, Ranmaru looked up at the place, bottom lip giving the tiniest quiver. Striding past him with the saddle bags in my arms, I heard his feet follow me, hesitating at first, but then all at once, unwilling to lose sight of my back. "There won't be much to take." He whispered, glancing up at me as we slipped our shoes of in the entrance, careful to keep to Nohime's house rules even now.

Shrugging a little, I handed half the bags over, trying hard to keep smiling for him, "There'll be something. Get your clothes and a fresh bow, and then take whatever's left."

"It was all taken to Azuchi." Of course it was. All the same, Ranmaru took the bags, creeping off to his rooms. Giving him a few minutes head start, I took my own bundles, heading for my own. I don't know what I expected to find. Dust gathering, with each one of my possessions destroyed and left in a broken pile on the floor?

Instead, when I got the door open, I gaped, looking around in a mix of joy and horror. Other than a few missing items, like some of my books and the clothes that had been going to Kiyosu with me, my quarters were entirely untouched, right down to the open box of hair ornaments, and the mirror placed in front of it. Propped up on my desk was a letter, written in Nohime's cursive script. Moving to open it, I heard Ranmaru approaching, but my eyes were too busy running over the page to properly acknowledge him.

Dear Sayomi,

Azuchi Castle is finally completed, and we have moved our main base there. However, until you are home safe again, I have ordered for your belongings to remain in Gifu, so that you do not return to an unfamiliar haven.

The remaining men of your unit were ordered to remain behind, in order to escort you to us safely. I have already selected a room for you here, and hope you will next see us in Lord Oda's land under warrior rule.

Lady Nohime

"Hey, I found these in my chest, will they be…Yomi?"

I felt my hands shaking, clutching the note close to my chest, "Why…would she write this?"

Sighing slightly, Ranmaru moved into the centre of the room, "After you vanished, Lady Nohime told us to leave your room alone, because she knew you'd come back. We didn't think you'd go to their side."

His words weren't mean to hurt, but they did all the same, "Well what choice did I have? Oda sent Gracia to kill me, after carving this into my hand!"

"Kill you?" Ranmaru gave me a funny look, doing a double take at the scars, "She was supposed to retrieve you from Takeda, and cutting you certainly didn't crop up when we were giving orders!"

It took a few moments to process all of this, my head rushing with the effort, "Then that means…I was never a traitor?"

"Not technically, I mean, you didn't stop Master Katakura from killing Akechi, but he was a traitor anyway, so I guess it's complicated?" I could take complicated. It was normal after all in the Oda clan.

Getting back to the problem at hand, I shook out Ranmaru's clothes, nodding at them, "These will do fine. Go get the rest of them, and remember a fresh bow."

Waiting until he was gone, I began opening my drawers, grabbing at every yukata I saw, folding them with reverence and placing them inside one of the cloth sacks, repeating the action with spare sandals, tabi, hakama, obis, until finally they were empty. Having managed to crush them under each other, I still had two bags left spare, and these I filled with my favourite books and hair set.

Giving a careful look around, making sure I hadn't missed anything, I hesitated at the box still open on my shelf, finally giving in and taking the comb, tucking it into my pack before rolling up my blanket and pillow.

Money wasn't an issue, not after Ranmaru returned from the armoury, carrying not only his bow and quivers, but the spare metal strips for my dress, which I carefully packed in with the rest of my things. Emptying out my small strong box and any more we could find around the place, I carefully tipped the contents into one of the quivers, sending Ranmaru off to change as I did so, wrapping a light blue yukata around me afterwards.

The high quality material could give us away, but we weren't planning to stick around long enough for anyone to notice. Our preparations took around two hours, including the amount of time it took for us to secure everything to Dango's back, our dim moods severely disturbing him. Tying our packs onto my back, I let Ranmaru carry his bow, knowing his pride was slowly returning at being able to carry our money.

With the blankets and his gear strapped onto him, Dango wasn't able to carry us both any longer, but made no protest when Talon finally came down from the sky and perched on his head, causing a giggle to escape Ranmaru.

Despite the fact that I hadn't slept since two nights ago, I forced my feet to keep moving, hands clutching tight to the reins and my sword, ignoring the concerned glances my horse occasionally sent, as though scolding me for being such a foolish human. Ignoring him, we urged forwards, Ranmaru getting cheerier the further we got from Gifu.

As we travelled, I fiddled with the end of my braid, accidentally pulling the ribbon from the knot. By the time I realised it was gone, the small length of silk had been caught by the wind, and was flying far away. Biting my lip, I let it go, hoping against hope that it stayed away from anyone who knew how to track.

A few days passed in this manner, endless walking until Ranmaru began to slip behind, when I'd insist he climb onto the saddle for a rest, and then around noon, one of us would feel hungry and suggest it to the other, digging in the saddle bag to feed Dango and Talon as well. Despite our Shinto belief being practically non-existent unless in the presence of a priest or a huge freaking army ready to tear us limb from limb, we managed to last three days before giving in and releasing Talon for a hunt, gratefully eating the meat he brought us each night with fervour.

Not much conversation passed between us either. At the start of our journey, I would've placed money on Ranmaru questioning my decision to side with the Takeda and Date, but something told me the thought of the people who had robbed him of the closest thing he had to a family was too painful, and we let the matter drop. He did ask about Gracia, and I told him the truth, leaving out the part where she blatantly insulted Oda.

However, when the fifth day of walking reached its midpoint, we finally stopped, in the middle of nowhere, I might add. The inevitable had happened, and seeing as neither of us had thought to collect a map on our way out, we were lost, with no way of telling where we were. "We could always go back to that last village and ask directions."

I shook my head hard, kneeling down to scratch an itch on my leg, "No, the tavern keeper was giving us weird looks, and I don't want to risk what he's guessing." As we discussed what to do, the sound we'd both been dreading hit our ears, Dango meeting it with a sharp whinny. Glancing in horror at each other, we carefully led him off the road, Ranmaru holding him steady while I lifted his front hoof.

To no-one's surprise, the shoe was cracked down the middle, several others beginning to form. "Please tell me you packed a care kit for him." Ranmaru murmured, stroking Dango's neck gently to calm him.

"Luckily, yes. It's just going to take a while to sort out." My jobs when it came to Dango were brushing, feeding and exercising him. Replacing shoes was a difficult business, and one I couldn't claim to be an expert in. "If you go get dinner, I'll fix this."

"Okay. See you back here."

"Be careful." Waving off my concern, Ranmaru left the money quiver with me and trekked into the surrounding forest, leaving me with the job of finding the damn kit. To be honest, the sooner we were out of this forest the better. I didn't relish being surrounded by trees on all sides, especially without Ranmaru close enough to make a quick getaway.

Shaking off my paranoia, I started to make camp, unhooking everything from the saddle. I found the kit and began pulling out the nails, holding the leg steady while I attended to it. Talon even hopped off his head, cocking his head thoughtfully at something behind me, shrieking at it occasionally. "Leave the bunny alone, boy. It's Ranmaru's turn tonight."

Ignoring my words, the falcon screamed again, just as something sharp touched the back of my neck. "Ranmaru?"

"Guess again." The voice was distinctly feminine, with the rough edge of a peasant's accent. "Who are you and what are you doing in these lands?" Risking a turn of my head, I was met with further prodding from the arrowhead. "Don't try anything stupid. Just answer the damn question."

"We're lost." I finally snapped, getting another prod for my honesty, "My horse's shoe cracked and we can't leave until I fix it. Unfortunately, there's something preventing that from happening."

"Don't try to be smart."

Just then, the most heavenly sound erupted from in front of me. "Sayomi!" The archer behind me swore loudly, suddenly facing down an arrow of her own. Using Ranmaru's entrance as a distraction, I dropped Dango's hoof, turning and holding the blade of my sword against her throat.

"Let's try this one again." I breathed, slightly unnerved to have to look up to stare her in the eyes, especially seeing as her aim hadn't altered a bit. "Who are you?"

"Like I'll tell you, samurai." Her eyes seemed familiar, but they were nearly hidden by her black curls, and there was a pack slung over her green yukata.

There was a thick rustling from the side that the path had been on, a taller, muscular man bursting through. His eyes scanned the area, dropping as he sighed, "Drop it, Mizu."

The woman glared at him sideways, "I'm the one being threatened and you tell me to drop it?"

"You started it." I returned, hearing Ranmaru getting closer, his bowstring still drawn all the way back.

The man sighed again, beginning to come closer, Ranmaru instantly bring his aim around, halting him, "Alright, I'm going to count to three, and all of you are going to drop your weapons, got it?"

"She's a fucking samurai, Nobu," Mizu whispered, "You can't trust a word out of her mouth."

"I'll drop mine if you drop yours."

"Get bent."

"Charming."

"One." None of us wavered, staring each other down. "Two." Nobu swallowed, finally hitting on an idea, "Oh, Mizu? I'll have to tell Chiyome about this. Thr-"

"Alright!" Mizu brought the bow down, forcing me to adhere to my word and lower the blade. After a moment's hesitation, Ranmaru slacked his draw, and the campsite returned to silence, until Mizu spoke again. "That was a very low blow, Nobu."

"Necessary though." Fixing her with a hard glare, Nobu came a little closer, hands reaching up to stroke Dango, "You say his shoe cracked?" He asked, turning to me. Nodding, I allowed him to inspect the damage, listening to his thoughtful hums.

Still off to one side, Mizu had her eyes narrowed, but they were turned on Ranmaru, regarding the bird slung over his shoulder. "Oy Hanzo! Bring my kit will you? I've got an injured horse here!" A non committed yell answered Nobu's request, feet suddenly rushing through the trees to reach us.

As the third stranger appeared, I actually froze, taking in his looks. A popular name it might've been, and the chances of running into someone else who wore it high, but there was no doubt that the Hanzo who was passing a satchel of tools to Nobu was the same boy that had joked in the mews, and had given me a reason to smile when I was being out-casted.

Drawing back up to his full height, and giving Mizu–his sister, I presumed- a cheeky grin, Hanzo finally turned to face me, his aura showing surprise but also mischief when I checked it. "Well, hello there, ma'am. Didn't expect to see you again."